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American Rescue Plan Act

Vision Framework

American Rescue Plan Act

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was signed into law by President Joseph Biden on March 11, 2021, in efforts to provide support to individuals, families and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Milwaukee County will directly receive $183 million in ARPA funding through the federal government’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. These funds are intended to allow flexibility for jurisdictions to meet local needs and fund local solutions to support families, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers and the communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Funds must be encumbered by Dec. 31, 2024 and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.


Milwaukee County ARPA Allocation

Milwaukee County established an ARPA Task Force in 2021 that created expenditure categories and service area priorities to align with the County’s racial and health equity vision, as detailed below. 

Expenditure Category​

% of ARPA​

Total Allocation​

Purpose​

Revenue Loss Recovery​

72%​

$132,424,572 ​

Provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.​

Community Support ​

22%​

$40,415,339 ​

Respond to economic harms to workers, families, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector.​

COVID-19 Mitigation​

2%​

$3,008,431 ​

Fund COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and public health and safety staff.​

Fund Administration​

4%​

$7,847,848 ​

Coordinate use of ARPA funds for programmatic and fiscal accountability, reporting, and alignment with other funding.​

 

Milwaukee County is dedicated to identifying strategies that will help the community recover from impacts of the pandemic and improve the organization’s fiscal health. To do this work, the County created the process below for projects to receive ARPA funding: 

  • Establish the ARPA Task Force
    • Task Force members are identified and establish ARPA Expenditure Categories for project allocation.
  • Form Service Area Subgroups
    • Membership is composed of subject matter experts based on ARPA Expenditure Categories from the community and Milwaukee County Departments.
  • Review Project Proposals 
    • Service Area Subgroup members review project proposals based on criteria specific to each ARPA Expenditure Category.
  • Recommend Project Proposals
    • Service Area Subgroups present funding recommendations within Milwaukee County and to the ARPA Task Force.
  • Project Allocations
    • Upon ARPA Task Force recommendation, departments request authorization through the County Board process.

To learn more about the Milwaukee County ARPA allocation, review the following:

2024 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Recovery Plan Performance Report

2023 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Recovery Plan Performance Report

2022 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Recovery Plan Performance Report

2021 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Recovery Plan Performance Report

ARPA Allocation Dashboard

ARPA Task Force

On June 24, 2021, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to establish the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Task Force. The task force will use a public process to make non-binding recommendations for ARPA allocations to the County Board of Supervisors.

Public comment is welcome at all task force meetings.

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  How much ARPA funding will Milwaukee County receive?

Milwaukee County is expected to directly receive an allocation of $183 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. We have already received half of this allocation ($92 million) and we are expecting to receive the other half in May of 2022.

The ARPA funding we will receive is much less than the estimated $300 to $400 million total revenue that Milwaukee County will lose between 2021-2024.

  Why was the ARPA Task Force created?

The ARPA Task Force is a cross-section of Milwaukee County leaders who are in the best position to make informed recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on how to spend our ARPA funding.

The ARPA Task Force is charged with:

  • Creating a process to broadly engage the public and ensure diverse input and ideas from Milwaukee County residents
  • Determining the evaluation criteria for proposed projects, programs, and services in accordance with the guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury
  • Monitoring the progress and reporting of funded projects, programs, and services
  • Measuring the impact of ARPA spending and investments
  Who created the ARPA Task Force?

Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marceila Nicholson created the ARPA Task Force.

  How can Milwaukee County residents stay informed about how the ARPA funds are being spent?

Milwaukee County values transparency and accountability and the Task Force will ensure the public has full access to our decisions about how we spend our ARPA funds.

Residents can check this website for the most up-to-date information.

The ARPA Task Force meetings are available through the Milwaukee County Legislative Information Center (CLIC), including audio and video live streams and recordings, materials and minutes.

  Why is community engagement so important?

Health and civic engagement are directly linked. When a culture of health exists, people care about their communities and are more motivated to participate.

Community engagement:

Milwaukee County having a robust community engagement strategy in place for economic stimulus spending means we will be able to:

  Can Milwaukee County spend ARPA funds on whatever it wants?

We have fairly broad discretion over how we spend our ARPA resources, but there are constraints. The Act requires that spending be used for four general purposes:

  • To respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts
  • To respond to workers performing essential work during COVID-19 through the provision of premium pandemic pay or grants to workers
  • For the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction of revenue due to COVID-19, including lost revenues
  • To make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure
  How does ARPA spending relate to Milwaukee County’s long-term goals?

Everything we do in Milwaukee County is guided by our vision of achieving racial equity and becoming the healthiest county in Wisconsin.

In the United States, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected underserved communities, where individuals who are non-Hispanic Black and Latinx are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to die from COVID-19. This stark disparity underscores important medical, social, economic, environmental, and political contexts that predate the COVID-19 pandemic.

All proposed ARPA projects, programs, and services must align with our Racial Equity Framework and demonstrate how they will advance our County’s health and racial equity goals.

MILWAUKEE COUNTY OFFICE OF
STRATEGY, BUDGET & PERFORMANCE

Milwaukee County Courthouse
901 N. 9th St., Room 308
Milwaukee, WI 53233

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